Saturday, June 28, 2025

creatively speaking, this week there was color, a start and a finish, drawings, Index card paintings

Spring Green Leaves  26" X 26"

 I will start this week with quilt making...

I've been working steadily on the Spring Leaf piece and it's now finished (needs a hanging sleeve tho) 

I will show some detail shots in a minute,

I got out my orange scrap bin, the bag of really small bits in a bin of small scraps, and saw tiny half square triangle blocks someone gave me a while back.... I began playing with them, now appreciating the more subtle colors.... and ended up making this

I had to make a few more from my stash that blended in well, and dithered over the arrangement of what I had to work with. 
I fell in love with the background fabric,  I liked how the lines of color extend with your view and that a simple block becomes more if you repeat the background uniformly. 

I like the interplay of paler orange and red orange against the tan background (that has flashes of blue) and that the top and bottom border doesn't have to match exactly in a seam to keep the eyes moving
But oh my, what next? I quite love it, and want to build it up but how??

I also added the unused strip set from Spring Greens to another strip set in the parts dept
This has potential
Back to Spring Green Leaves
I chose a simple sparkling green binding 
I was amazed that it laid flat and square, with all those tiny biased edges. I am kind of in love with it's merging of modern with scrap quilting and it's a lesson in more is better. All shades of green. 

A wide variety of color makes it richer, just like in life


using the quilting lines to continue a scrap of colorful flowers in the scraps



A mix of piecing and applique



positive and negative shapes repeated all the way through quilting in leaves
at the end I added in leafy fabric bits, raw edge and quilted over to continue the lines






I was able to paint some more ICAD (Index card a day ) prompts

I do these as my morning pages often, which means they are quick 
The prompts were hydrangea, Arrow, sorbet, midnight, twig, and yellow
Pitt pen

for some reason my Inktense pan inks wouldn't darken

sorbet was done with gouache, and I like the way the texture on the icy balls came out, not the orange slice but then these are an exercise in inspiration. Learn and move on.


attempt at impressionism with gouache paint

for yellow, I wanted to try to capture a bit of Klimt... the posture and hair were hard, and I like the dress being form fitting. I think I finally got the body proportion better. 

I was looking at old photos online, and came across Lilian Gish... lovely with those shadows that black and white studio portraits gave
I wanted to capture the tilt of her head and missed the nuances... dh came out of his office and looked and said, " her head isn't tilted down" (I know.... maybe next time)
He likes my drawings and paintings though. I learn with each attempt and though this is just a pencil sketch on copier paper I went back a couple times to erase, or tweak, or re-shade an area. I like how the blouse came out, the proportions, and the mouth looks like the actress


Thank you for visiting, and I hope you continue to encourage your own creativity


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Thursday, June 26, 2025

I Like Thursday #457 flowers, convo question, dishwashers, a vintage milo video, and an iguana

 

welcome to this week's list of likes starting with other people's flowers!

We walk a lot and I enjoy seeing lawn ornaments and pretty flower displays. Our rose bush is adjusting to life in our yard, no blooms yet but they might be these colors...

this yard had 5 of them, orange, yellow, coral, sunset, pink

what are these? red violet colored TINY bells on stalks

how pretty this porch box is! Pink/yellow, white and lush!
mighty clouds filled the brilliant blue sky this week, as a storm blew in to put a stop to over 100 F temps
It is a pure relief to see merely 80's (I do not like it that hot) 

we had a big leak from our dishwasher which meant we had to get a degree in dishwasher comparisons and fork out a LOT of money for this
Our plumber came out to install it. Midway he whistled, "are you kidding me?" 
the builder put in the island and dishwasher, then installed the wood floor around it so it was super difficult to get the old one out, and this new one in, requiring some pounding. Our plumber said Lowe's would not have done all he did to get this one in, 
having had poor quality from them before installing our Washer we automatically called our guy. 
He goes by "mad mike" and he also replaced our water pressure regulator 

When the temps dropped this week we hurried to bake a loaf of bread, a set of hamburger buns, banana muffins, a pizza, and some chicken. Oy vey. 

Our flowers are not blooming, the lettuce was nearly killed by the heat, the tomatoes are behind not even making little tomato balls in flowers yet the wildflowers are green seedlings, but the parsley is alive. 

A friend sent a pic of our old house in Maryland after the storm, condemned from tree falling damage! 
We talked about Milo, and her dog Piglet... and I went looking for a video to show you of Milo's early childhood

Missing Milo

here's a video of Milo as a puppy enjoying his magazine hobby


for anyone who lost a button


gratuitous painting

Mission Impaw-sible  with cats, hilarious to me



The conversation starter this week: 

Do you play summer sports? Tennis, or golf, or pickleball, etc? Do you have a special outfit for them, or equipment? 

I'm not sporty,  me and "ball" sports have little in common


I tried as a young university student to learn to really play tennis, my boyfriend at the time was all around sporty guy, ice hockey, tennis, marathon runs, hiking, camping, well many things. 

He would hit the ball right to me, I'd swing, hear the air rushing through the empty strings, and the thonk of the ball wedging itself into the fence. 

then I tried racquetball but again, not great. 

I tried running, even did a 5K race where I came in next to last but counted it a win since I never stopped to walk. 

walking long distances is my thing, and dance. Swing, tap, ballet, Cajun, jive, contra.... anything dance. 

Our neighborhood now has a tennis court where pickleball people take over all the time. 

I walk on by..... 




oh yes, before marriage, I met a guy when I did the Renaissance Festival, who invited me to go to the yacht races on his sail boat yacht... 
I may have been more for ballast lol but I still learned to be more of a help than a hindrance. Davis Island Yacht races I think, it was in Tampa. 
Not even good at that sport, I went where told, ducked when the beam came across, pulled on ropes, and had a great time. He had a fairly small vintage beautiful wooden sailing ship, with lots of nice people there to help move me from side to side. 
I remember it heeling over so far I missed having seat belts, and thinking, are there sharks just below my head? 
I went out with him on the yacht a few times but it wasn't meant to be forever, just one of those truly interesting experiences. 

I think that counts for a summer sport? 

now please visit these fine folks to see what they liked this week! 
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Saturday, June 21, 2025

creatively speaking this week... spirals, painting challenge, machine choice, Spring Green, COLORS!

 

I've been progressing on each project this week. Each step teaches me, each color excites me, art is healing

Above is my rainbow scrap challenge block this year, a hexie spiral. Hand stitched with small scraps from my orange collection. So satisfying when it is done.... here are the colors completed so far
just blocks lying next to each other
The Index Card a Day challenge is on, I'm woefully behind but have now done several. We use the prompts to create something each day....
"Spring"   "Cobalt"  "Iguana" 

Love how the paints blended in the petals

drawn from an OLD photo online
when I see a prompt I wonder how I can interpret it in some unique way, so in person, her dress is brilliant cobalt blue
I could have drawn an iguana but chose to do mixed media. I printed out an image on paper, tore away what wasn't the black line drawing, glued it to index card then painted with watercolor pencils and ink
"embroidery"  "Tidal Pool" 

"Iridescent"  "Leopard" 
I did paint with iridescent inks but they don't photo well, and I thought of ways to show leopard.... 
I feel like I know this woman somehow.... the mix of animal prints, kind of chubby but reaching for fashion 
the ladies so far
Back to sewing.... I finished piecing the Spring Leaves top basted the layers together with pins, and began quilting it
first pull threads to use, think about how I want the texture, face using the tiny Gem machine to do this 
I usually don't try to match, but to accent with threads.... this one became my favorite to use for this stage of quilting
it has a bold thick texture, a lovely gentle color change, and looks so good when stitching in more leaves
A mix of straight line quilting to stabilize then some detail work here and there, keeping it flat and balanced with each addition. I don't do all one area then the next as that can distort. 

I just love the way it's coming along. As I quilt I decide what to do, where, which with treads.
so many tiny scraps, added one by one in the strip stage, inserted curves, all different tones and shades of green, different fabric prints, all come together in this... some planned, some serendipity

I called a local shop to ask prices for the Janome 6700 P machine. 

It's time (I miss the demise of my Bernina 1630) 

The salesman mentioned I should check out the pfaff expression 710 and it does come with a lot of feet I use, and the dual feed is a good thing.  

tell me what you think...bernina's are just too expensive for me at this point


Inspiration  

orange flowers brightening a yard


 decorative way to stitch on a button

https://youtube.com/shorts/ys41X2zTOXU?si=pmmbvz2-ZuBpg2Gh 


happy creating y'all

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Thursday, June 19, 2025

i Like Thursday #456 flowers, good food, yard ornaments, art, the usual


 

welcome to this week's list of likes starting with another yard ornament, this time on a shed, and I always smile at it. Plus the people that live there have a bulldog.,, who is very engaging and happy. 


Hiya! can you see me? I'm a little happy gnome behind the fence

I'm a yard bunny not an ornament!!!

 I came out this week, to paint my nails and startled the yard bunny who leapt off the patio, then stopped to see if I'd go away. Since I continued to paint my nails, he sat, then laid down steps from me, then rolled over in the most casual poses...

just like Milo used to do, are you reincarnated already Milo? or did this bunny watch you too? 
I LOVE clematis but didn't know it would grow here!

The grocery store delivered two cabbages instead of two heads of lettuce....

oy

I thought I'd try slaw, which I have never made. I've made a mighty number of dishes and meals in my life, but not being a fan of  slaw generally, never made it til now. DH grated it into shreds, grated a carrot to go in and I made the dressing. 

I loved it! 
I also just love using our big bowls to mix stuff in... a shiny silver bowl! So pretty to use

never content to truly follow a recipe and they are mostly all the same online for slaw, I mixed mayo and greek yogurt, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, white sugar, S & P  onion and garlic powder and a bit of dried mustard. 

it came out great! I do like a deli salad for sides, and make carrot, potato, 3 bean,. broccoli salads 

and now slaw.

https://www.askchefdennis.com/wprm_print/best-coleslaw-recipe 

Funnies

Enjoy this pup as he eats cabbage...

https://youtube.com/shorts/G8dDsOlbkms?si=15PahNVvM1PKqh0U

and not to forget a precious cat who closely observes a toy operation

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KggoIvlB5VI

Wendy and Lisca, note the orange cat

More fine dining

I scrambled egg whites with cheese tomatoes and chives this week to have egg quesadillas for lunch... 

and had eggs left for breakfast later in the week! win win. 
as my niece says, if you cooked and don't have leftovers you wasted your time.
 (she may have heard that from me)

breakfast of champions
I've been doing index card a day prompts as morning pages... more on saturday's art post, but 
I like to paint
I love to sew and finished the quilt top I've been working on (working title Spring leaves)
just a peek, more on Saturday's post

reading 

on audio, next one in the Hannah Swenson mystery series by Joanna Fluke
on ebook   one of Rhys Bowen's  mollie murphy mysteries


Conversation starter this week

Did you go away to sleep=away camp in your youth? Did you like it, or were you homesick, did you learn something new there? How were the other kids and the counselors? 

I saw things like that on movies but I never went. The most I did was a 3 day church camp in Florida, with bunk beds and swimming pool were girls and boys had to go at different times. No pants allowed, just skirts, OMgosh it was all uncomfortable. I was afraid I'd walk or talk in my sleep. 

as far as camping, it's not my thing. I've done tent camping, with an ex boyfriend, Mr Mountain man, and once as a young social worker, with coworkers, we canoed and camped out and I learned the meaning of chiggers, and had Baileys Irish cream in my morning coffee made over a fire. 

Mountain Man was a big outdoors guy, so we camped in Jasper Nat'l park, and near Lake Louise, and other sites. I woke one morning to seeing the tent being pushed in by some disgruntled critter. I had slept in every outfit I took, since I was cold, was out the tent and on top of the concrete picnic table in a flash. I saw an enormous elk pushing the tent with it's antlers, yelled at MM to get. out. now. 
He came out and laughed at me. 
Undeterred, I insisted on reporting the incident to the park rangers who also laughed at me. 
"miss, would you like us to relocate the elk?" bwaaaahahahaha
(some old guy is now telling his side of this tale to grand children) 

every time my now husband and I tried to camp it was miserable. At one point our lab-radaughter Chelsea left the campfire went to the door of the camper and whined to just go to bed such as it was, and maybe it would all disappear in the morning. 


Please visit these fine folk to see what they liked this week:
 
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